Rainy night aboard.

8-16-2014
Sail #11

 Even though the weather was not forecasted to be the best for Saturday my daughter wanted to go sail with us before she headed off to her freshman year at college. So we headed over to the boat mid afternoon to give it a try as she left the upcoming Thrusday. The weather was overcast but there was a breeze, not much, but enough to move the boat across the water.
 We arrived and found our girl eager to get on the water again. Cindy and I got busy rigging the sails and getting everything loaded while Bre and her friend Olivia waited patiently. They decided to hop on board and check things out but I needed them to hop out so I could hook the trailer to the hitch. All I heard was a roar of laughter from my daughter as it seems Olivia slipped and busted her butt on her landing when she jumped down out of the boat. Gotta hate it when you miss a good wipeout!
 After a quick potty break we headed to the ramp and had Cindy back her down into the water. After a few attempts I could sense Cindy's frustration building so we swapped places and I backed our girl down into the water. After a quick launch I motored over to the ramp to pick up the girls. Once everyone was on board it was time to go sailing!
 I raised the sails once clear of the buoy field and in no time the motor was off and raised and we were sailing closed hauled in a nice lil breeze. After tacking at the opposite shore of the lake I got out my hand held GPS and checked our speed. We managed to hit 5 mph at one point which really surprised me as we did not have but maybe 5-7 mph of wind. After sailing for maybe 45 mins the weather was starting to look more like rain so we headed to a cove that was closer to the sailing association just in case we had to make a quick run for it. Once in the cove we got P2 out and inflated her. Bre hopped on her and away she went. Bre and I had paddled boarded in Lake Michigan on a business trip I took to Cheboygan WI back in 2011. I had never heard of SUP's till then and while we originally went in to shop to rent a kayak for the afternoon once we saw the SUP's we had to try it. I think we failed to hear the guy mention the lake water was chilly, like 54 degrees chilly. But we paddled around and had a ball with the board. So Bre had some experience with a SUP and she did fine. We tried our best to get Olivia to give it a go but it seems she has this aversion to swimming in lakes. Go figure.
 While Bre was out paddling as I got dinner started. We had brought along a couple of nice rib eye steaks so once they were done we all dove in and made pigs of ourselves. For some reason food just taste better on a boat. Maybe it is the surroundings or just the thought that you cooked it on board your boat. Either way they were very tasty. As we ate dinner the skies began to darken so once we finished cleaning up dishes we headed back to the dock so Bre and Olivia could head home. They wanted to leave before dark anyway as it was Bre's first time there and she wanted to make sure she did not get lost in the dark. As we rounded the corner from the cove we were in it was apparent that the wind had started blowing. Go figure, time for the girls to head home and the wind picks up. We dropped the girls off at the dark and after a quick bathroom break Cindy and headed back out to sail some more.
 The wind had picked up nicely and was blowing maybe 10-12 out of the west. We sailed back and forth across the lake several times as darkness encroached upon us. We were the only sailboat on the lake and with the exception of few bass boats heading back in for the day we had the lake to ourselves. It was great sailing and we were clipping right along. Too bad I did not think to get the GPS out then and see what our speed was. Cindy had me man the tiller while she assumed her happy place leaning back into me as we sailed along.
 It was almost 9:30 and right on the edge of darkness when we made it into our favorite cove. I went forward and dropped the jib and we sailed in under main only. Cindy spun us around into the wind and I dropped anchor. I wanted back off the anchor and get some slope on the anchor rode in case we had to ride out some wind so we traded places so I could run the motor. I asked Cindy to hold tension on the anchor line till I started backing up then release the line so it could go out off the holder. Somewhere in those instructions something got crossed as when I start backing the boat up Cindy was trying to hold tension on the line instead of just letting it out. Next thing I know Cindy is laying on the bow with arms stretched out into the water trying to get the anchor line holder back! I stopped the boat and went forward to help and that was when I discovered she was trying to hold the line tight. I think there may have been a break down in communication. No harm done and she was able to recover the holder so all was good. We finished putting the boat to bed before getting our bed ready in the v birth. Note to self, next tie the halyards off to the pulpits as they started banging on the mast later in the night, which I found annoying. Cindy could barely hear it LOL.
 Once we finished our chores we cuddled up in the v birth and watched a movie on our laptop. It rained off and on during the movie and we really enjoyed listening to the rain on the cabin top. It was very soothing and relaxing. Fortunately it was a nice temperature and there was a breeze blowing so we were cool and there were no bugs. Cindy has officially declared this the summer of the sweatshirt! Just this week we are having more seasonable temps but there has just been a few days this summer that I would call muggy. Normally we have more than you can count!
 After the movie was over we popped our heads out to see what was going on. Now it was almost midnight and it was a steady drizzle so we were quite surprised to see two men on a bass boat fishing in the dark about a 150 feet north of our stern!!! Talk about diehards! Cindy had a very comical incident trying to do a prop check in the dark by using her paddle board that we had tied up to the stern. Needless to say she got a bit wetter than what she was hoping for and I got a great laugh. Not sure how far the guys on the bass boat could see into the darkness but they might have gotten a free show if they could see her.
 We slept well with the rain pattering on the roof top that night. I woke up a time or two to adjust the hatch opening. Seems there is a crack in it that I will need to repair when paint her this winter. With the hatch up the water runs in the crack and then dripped on us. That was a bit annoying. Then about 6 am the next morning we had a good down pour and I discovered how we kept getting water in the cabin floor when it would rain. The fasteners for the pop top struts go through the top of the pop top from below which puts the nuts for them on the cabin top. I think they all leaked so that was added to the list of repairs. I was surprised how much water they let in. I got up and strategically place our dish washing totes to collect most of the water that was dripping down from the strut fasteners. I popped my head out to discover another fishing boat was within 75' of us, in the dark, in the rain! OMG, talk about nothing better to do! I crawled back into the v birth and cuddled up with my lil nuddling partner (nuddling is naked cuddling, it's the best!). It was almost ten before we finally emerged from the cabin to get our day started!
 The rain had finally let up and the boat was starting to dry off a bit. I dropped the lifeline and just jumped in to get woke up. Wow! That will wake you up! Probably a good thing I did as the wind had died down during the night and the anchor line had gotten wrapped around the keel again. I got it freed and then gathered the access line and put it on the bow. I am starting to think that maybe we should use the white rope instead of the nylon woven rope. It seems to float where as the other line did not. I really like the convince of the nylon rope as it has it's own holder and you can shake it dry. The other line has to be rolled up and then hung out to dry before storing it away.
 After I made us a couple of omelets for breakfast Cindy took off exploring on P2 while I fished off the boat with my spinning rod. Fish were jumping all around the boat so I was hopeful I might catch one or two. I did catch on lil stripper off the bow before I got a bit aggressive with my casting and forgot about the shroud lines. As I went forward on my cast I hooked the shroud! I managed to break the line and my lure hit the deck and bounced off into the water. Argh. Back to the cockpit to tie on another lure. I caught another stripper off the stern and shortly after releasing him I got to witness something really cool.
 There is a eagle's nest along the south shore of where we anchor. I saw a large eagle launch from the nest tree and fly straight out to a point about 100 feet off of our stern. He made a tight right hand turn right towards our boat then just folded his wings back, dropped his head, and dove for the water. I am just standing there on the stern watching with my mouth hanging open as I love watching big birds! He dove down till he was about 2 feet above the water and all at once his wings popped out, his feet went down, and his head went up. There was a large splash followed by a lot of wing flapping and hitting the water but in no time he was back up in the air with what looked like a 8-10" bass flipping around in his talons!!! He struggled to fly a bit till his wings shed all the water off them then he made a right hand 270 degree turn and came right over the mast about 10 feet above it almost as if he was showing off his catch to me. He flew back to the south shore and landed in a dead tree to have his breakfast. I watched him eat his catch with our binoculars. Talk about something to see in real life. I had only seen an eagle fishing on tv before so I was really excited to get to see in real life and so close to me at the same time was awesome!
 Not long after that it started raining again. I looked out across the water and Cindy was headed back paddling fast trying to get back before she got drenched. I raised the anchor to go get her but by the time I got everything put away and headed over to her she was almost to the boat. I helped her aboard then loaded P2 onto the deck on the port side between the shrouds and the cabin top. We headed back across the lake to the dock as radar showed more showers heading our way. As we crossed the lake Cindy told me all about the big fish she saw rooting around in the mud right along the shoreline. She was paddling her board a few feet off the shoreline when she saw mud swirling around up ahead of her. She carefully approached and saw a fish that started out as 2 feet long but has since grown to 3 feet long. Seems it is not just men who exaggerate the size of their fish! It was digging around in the mud till it saw Cindy on her board then took off like a rocket! Once back to dock we tied off in a slip and I suggested to Cindy that since there was hardly anyone around she should take Pearl and trailer over to the boat ramp and practice backing the trailer without the boat on it while I put P2 up and got the boat ready to put away. So she headed off and practiced backing for about 20 mins while I did my chores. I headed over with the boat to meet her which was a role reversal of sorts as Cindy had never been on the trailer with me bringing the boat in. I carried a little more speed to the trailer than Cindy typically does and was off just a bit with the keel from lining up with slot in the bunk boards. The keel hit the right inside bunk board and knocked it in a bit. I had been meaning to modify the trailer but with me usually being the one on trailer I had just dealt with the issues but now is the time to fix it. I had to get off the boat and onto the trailer so I could muscle her keel into the slot between the boards. As soon as time allows we will launch the boat then tie her in a slip and make the modifications to the bunk boards so that there is a better mechanism to guide the keel into the slot.
 Since we had already taken the sails off the night before it did not take us long to get her all put up and get her ready to await out next sailing adventure. The cover I had made for the cockpit and the cabin top finally tore to the point it is time to make one out of real material instead of the Harbor Freight silver tarp. It worked well and we really liked having the top covered. We might have to make a whole top cover once we paint her but for now what we have will be fine. I am just waiting on the material to arrive so I can sew up the new cover.
 On our way home Cindy told me how much better she felt about her ability to back the trailer now after getting to practice that morning. We really enjoyed our first rainy night aboard and the idea of bringing the laptop so we could watch movies was a hit! Too bad we were out of Jiffy pop as  popcorn would have been nice. It was another wonderful adventure to add to long list of adventures we have already shared together and gave us many new ideas for future adventures yet to come!!!